Abstract/Summary

The rupture of continents and creation of new oceans is a
fundamental yet primitively understood aspect of the plate
tectonic cycle. Building upon past achievements by ocean
drilling and geophysical and geologic studies, we propose
“The Continental Breakup and Birth of Oceans Mission
(COBBOOM)” as the next major phase of discovery, for
which sampling by drilling will be essential.
In September 2006, fifty-one scientists from six continents
gathered in Pontresina, Switzerland to discuss current
knowledge of continental breakup and sedimentary basin
formation and how the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
(IODP) can deepen that knowledge (Coffin et al., 2006).
Workshop participants discussed a global array of rifted
margins (Fig. 1), formulated the critical problems to be
addressed by future drilling and related investigations, and
identified key rift systems poised for IODP investigations.